U.S. patent number 6,977,923 [Application Number 09/676,675] was granted by the patent office on 2005-12-20 for method of activating an inactive terminal of a data network, particularly of an ip network.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Alcatel. Invention is credited to Frank Hagebarth.
United States Patent |
6,977,923 |
Hagebarth |
December 20, 2005 |
Method of activating an inactive terminal of a data network,
particularly of an IP network
Abstract
The invention relates to a method of establishing a voice call
between a calling party's terminal (5), which is connected to a
telephone network (4), and a called party's terminal (6), which is
also connected to the telephone network (4), through an Internet
Protocol (IP) network (1). To make the method as simple as
possible, it is proposed to use conventional IP servers (2; 3) of
IP service providers for providing access to the IP network (1).
The IP network (1) includes at least one Voice-over-IP (VoIP)
server (11), which controls the functions of telephony over the IP
network (1). The VoIP server (11) receives the request for an IP
call from the calling party, activates the still inactive terminal
(6) of the called party over the telephone network (4), determines
the IP addresses of the terminals (5, 6), and communicates the IP
addresses to the respective other terminal (5; 6). The terminals
(5, 6) then establish a voice call between them through the IP
network (1).
Inventors: |
Hagebarth; Frank (Kirchheim,
DE) |
Assignee: |
Alcatel (Paris,
FR)
|
Family
ID: |
7926097 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/676,675 |
Filed: |
October 2, 2000 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 19, 1999 [DE] |
|
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199 50 231 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
370/353; 370/359;
370/384; 370/419 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L
29/06 (20130101); H04M 7/0057 (20130101); H04M
7/122 (20130101); H04L 65/1069 (20130101); H04L
29/06027 (20130101); H04M 2203/1008 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04L 012/66 ();
H04L 012/28 (); H04L 012/50 (); H04L 012/56 () |
Field of
Search: |
;370/235,236,351,352,353,357,359,386,389,392,395.1,395.2,395.3,395.5,464-467,395.52,384,419 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Kizou; Hassan
Assistant Examiner: Sefcheck; Gregory
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sughrue Mion, PLLC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of activating an inactive terminal (6) of a data
network (1), which terminal is connected to a telephone network
(4), for establishing a connection through the data network (1)
between a further terminal (5) and the terminal (6) to be
activated, comprising: establishing a connection to a server (1) of
the data network (1) and transmitting an identifier of the terminal
(6) to be activated to the server (11) of the data network (1);
receiving the identifier at the server (11) of the data network
(1); interpreting the identifier at the server (11) of the data
network (1) to determine the telephone number of the terminal (6)
to be activated; making a telephone call from the server (11) of
the data network (1) through the telephone network (4) to the
terminal (6) to be activated; signaling the identity of the server
(11) of the data network through the telephone network (4) to the
terminal (6) to be activated; receiving the telephone call and
interpreting the signaling at the terminal (6) to be activated;
terminating the telephone call to the terminal (6) by the server
(11) of the data network (1); and establishing a connection from
the terminal (6) to be activated to the data network (1) if the
signaling indicates that the telephone call came from a server (11)
of the data network (1), wherein the terminal to be activated is a
terminal which has not yet established a connection through the
data network.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the
establishment of the connection to the server (11) of the data
network (1) and the transmission of the identifier of the terminal
(6) to be activated to the server (11) of the data network (1) are
effected by the further terminal (5).
3. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, in order
to establish a connection between the further terminal and the
terminal to be activated, the terminal (6) to be activated
establishes a connection to a server (11) of the data network (1)
and transmits its identifier to the server (11) or the identifier
is determined by the server (11); the data network addresses of the
two terminals (5, 6) are transmitted by the server (11) of the data
network to the respective other terminal (5; 6), or are retrieved
by the terminals (5, 6) from the server (11); and a connection is
established by the terminals (5, 6) through the telephone network
(4) and the data network (1).
4. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the data
network (1) is designed an as Internet Protocol (IP) network.
5. A method as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the
further terminal (5) is a calling party's terminal (5) connected to
a telephone network (4), and in that the terminal (6) to be
activated is a called party's terminal (6) connected to the
telephone network (4), the called party's terminal (6) being
activated to set up a voice call between the calling party's
terminal (5) and the called party's terminal (6) through the IP
network (1).
6. A method as claimed in claim 5, characterized by the following
steps: The calling party dials at his or her terminal (5) the
telephone number of the terminal (6) of the called party; a first
Voice-over-IP (VoIP) adapter unit (9), connected between the
terminal (5) of the calling party and the telephone network (4),
receives the dialed telephone number; the first VoIP adapter unit
(9) establishes a connection through the telephone network (4) to a
POP server (2) and through the latter to the data network (1); the
first VoIP adapter unit (9) transmits the called-party telephone
number and its own IP address over the IP network (1) to a VoIP
server (11) of the data network (1); the VoIP server (11) receives
the called-party telephone number and the IP address of the first
VoIP adapter unit (9); the VoIP server (11) dials up the terminal
(6) of the called party through the telephone network (4); over the
telephone network (4), the telephone number of the VoIP server (11)
is signaled to the terminal (6) of the called party; a second VoIP
adapter unit (10), connected between the terminal (6) of the called
party and the telephone network (4), receives the telephone number
of the VoIP server (11); the second VoIP adapter unit (10) compares
the telephone number with telephone numbers of known VoIP servers;
the second VoIP adapter unit (10) identifies the VoIP server (11)
and prevents the incoming call from being transferred to the
terminal (6) of the called party; the second VoIP adapter unit (10)
establishes a connection to a POP server (3) through the telephone
network (4); the second VoIP adapter unit (10) transmits its IP
address to the VoIP server (11) over the IP network (1); the VoIP
server (11) transmits the IP address of the first VoIP adapter unit
(9) to the second VoIP adapter unit (10), and the VoIP server (11)
transmits the IP address of the second VoIP adapter unit (10) to
the first VoIP adapter unit (9); an IP connection is established
from the first VoIP adapter unit (9) to the second VoIP adapter
unit (10); the second VoIP adapter unit (10) causes a telephone
call to be sent to the terminal (6) of the called party; and a
voice call is established between the terminal (5) of the calling
party and the terminal (6) of the called party if the called party
accepts the telephone call.
7. A method as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the VoIP
server (11) and the POP server (2; 3) are combined in a common
POP/VoIP server.
8. The method of activating an inactive terminal according to claim
1, wherein, the terminal to be activated is a terminal which has
not yet established a connection through the telephone network.
9. The method of activating an inactive terminal according to claim
1, wherein, the connection from the terminal to be activated to the
data network is established after terminating the telephone call to
the terminal by the server of the data network.
10. A server (11) of a data network, comprising: means for
receiving from a terminal (5) an identifier of a terminal (6) to be
activated, which is connected to a telephone network (4); means for
making a telephone call over the telephone network (4) to the
terminal (6) to be activated; and means for terminating the
telephone call to the terminal (6) to be activated, wherein the
terminal to be activated establishes a connection to the data
network if signaling indicates that the telephone call came from a
server (11) of the data network, and wherein, the terminal to be
activated is a terminal which has not yet established a connection
through the data network.
11. A server (11) as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that it
is designed as an access server (2; 3) of an IP network (1).
12. A server (11) as claimed in claim 10, further comprising means
for interpreting the identifier and determining the telephone
number of the terminal (6) to be activated.
13. A server (11) as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the
server (2, 3, 11) further comprises means for accepting a telephone
call received from the terminal (5) over the telephone network (4),
and means for establishing a connection from the terminal (5) to
the data network (1).
14. The server of a data network according to claim 10, wherein,
the terminal to be activated is a terminal which has not yet
established a connection through the telephone network.
15. An adapter unit (9) connected between a terminal (5; 6) of a
telephone network (4) and the telephone network (4), comprising:
means for establishing a connection from the terminal (5) to a
server (2; 3) of a data network (1) over the telephone network (4);
means for receiving a telephone call of a server (11) of the data
network (1); means for interpreting a telephone number of a caller;
means for comparing the telephone number of the caller with the
telephone numbers of known servers of the data network; means for
retrieving and/or receiving a data network address of a further
adapter unit (10; 9) from the server of the data network (1); and
means for establishing a data call to the further adapter unit (10;
9) through the data network (1), wherein, the adapter unit further
comprises means for identifying that the call is arriving from the
server of the data network and for preventing the telephone from
receiving the call at the telephone until the adapter unit and the
further adapter unit establish a connection through the data
network by identifying network address of the further adapter
unit.
16. An adapter unit (9; 10) as claimed in claim 15, further
comprising means for transmitting the identifier of a terminal (6)
to be activated or the identification of a called party to the
server (2; 3) of the data network (1).
17. An adapter unit (9; 10) as claimed in claim 15, characterized
by being implemented as a microcomputer with a processor, a memory,
an interface to the telephone network (4), and an interface to an
Internet Protocol (IP) network (1).
18. The adapter unit according to claim 15, wherein, the adapter
unit is connected between a terminal of the telephone network and
the telephone network.
19. A telephone (5, 6) configured for connection to a telephone
network (4), characterized in that an adapter unit (9; 10) is
incorporated in the telephone (5, 6), said adapter unit comprising:
means for establishing a connection from the telephone (5, 6) to a
server (2; 3) of a data network (1) over the telephone network (4);
means for receiving a telephone call of a server (11) of the data
network (1); means for interpreting a telephone number of a caller;
means for comparing the telephone number of the caller with
telephone numbers of known servers of the data network; means for
retrieving and/or receiving a data network address of a further
adapter unit (10; 9) from the server of the data network (1); and
means for establishing a data call to the further adapter unit (10;
9) through the data network (1), wherein the adapter unit
identifies that the call is arriving from the server of the data
network and prevents the telephone from receiving the call until
the adapter unit and the further adapter unit establish a
connection through the data network by identifying the data network
address of the further adapter unit.
20. The telephone according to claim 19, wherein the adapter unit
is incorporated in the telephone.
21. A microcomputer comprising a modulator-demodulator (modem) or
an ISDN adapter, wherein the modem or the ISDN adapter being
configured for connection to a telephone network (4), and including
an adapter unit (9, 10), said adapter unit (9, 10) comprising:
means for establishing a connection from the microcomputer to a
server (2; 3) of a data network (1) over the telephone network (4);
means for receiving a telephone call of a server (11) of the data
network (1); means for interpreting a telephone number of a caller;
means for comparing the telephone number of the caller with
telephone numbers of known servers of the data network; means for
retrieving and/or receiving a data network address of a further
adapter unit (10; 9) from the server of the data network (1); means
for establishing a data call to the further adapter unit (10; 9)
through the data network (1); and means for identifying that the
call is arriving from the server of the data network and for
preventing the microcomputer from receiving the call at the
microcomputer prior to the adapter unit and the further adapter
unit establishing a connection through the data network by
identifying the network address of the further adapter unit via the
server.
22. A microcomputer as claimed in claim 21, wherein said
microcomputer is a personal computer.
23. A method of activating an inactive terminal (6) of a data
network (1), which terminal is connected to a telephone network
(4), for establishing a connection through the data network (1)
between a further terminal (5) and the terminal (6) to be
activated, comprising: establishing a connection to a server (11)
of the data network (1) and transmitting an identifier of the
terminal (6) to be activated to the server (11) of the data network
(1); receiving the identifier at the server (11) of the data
network (1); interpreting the identifier at the server (11) of the
data network (1) to determine the telephone number of the terminal
(11) to be activated; making a telephone call from the server (11)
of the data network (1) through the telephone network (4) to the
terminal (6) to be activated; signaling the identity of the server
(11) of the data network through the telephone network (4) to the
terminal (6) to be activated; and receiving the telephone call and
interpreting the signaling at the terminal (6) to be activated;
wherein, when said terminal (6) to be activated receives the
telephone call and interprets the signaling, said terminal (6) to
be activated does not accept the telephone call from the server
(11) if said terminal (6) to be activated recognizes the signaling
as being from the server (11) and wherein the terminal to be
activated is a terminal which has not yet established a connection
through the data network.
24. The method of activating an inactive terminal according to
claim 23, wherein, the terminal to be activated is a terminal which
has not yet established a connection through the telephone
network.
25. An adapter unit (9) connected between a terminal (5; 6) of a
telephone network (4) and the telephone network (4), comprising:
means for establishing a connection from the terminal (5) to a
server (2; 3) of a data network (1) over the telephone network (4);
means for receiving a telephone call of a server (11) of the data
network (1); means for interpreting a telephone number of a caller;
means for comparing the telephone number of the caller with the
telephone numbers of known servers of the data network; and means
for identifying the call arriving from the server of the data
network and for preventing the telephone from receiving the call at
the telephone prior to the adapter unit and the further adapter
unit establishing a connection through the data network by
identifying network address of the further adapter unit, wherein
the adapter unit (9) does not accept the telephone call from the
server (11) of the data network (1) if said means for comparing
determines that the telephone number of the caller is a telephone
number of a known server of the data network.
26. The adaptor unit according to claim 25, wherein, the adapter
unit is connected between a terminal of the telephone network and
the telephone network.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of activating an inactive
terminal of a data network, which terminal is connected to a
telephone network, for establishing a connection through the data
network between a further terminal and the terminal to be
activated. The invention also relates to a server of a data
network, to an adapter unit connected between a terminal of a
telephone network and the telephone network, to a telephone, and to
a microcomputer, preferably a personal computer, comprising a
modulator-demodulator (modem) or an ISDN adapter.
The present invention relates to the field of telephony over data
networks, particularly to the field of telephony over Internet
Protocol (IP) networks, so-called Internet telephony.
It is known in the art to use IP networks (e.g., the Internet or
intranets) for telephony. Internet telephony, also referred to as
"Voice over IP" (VoIP), is expected to find wide use, because it
provides considerable cost savings over conventional telephone
calls through the telephone network, particularly in the case of
long-distance and international calls. For VoIP, both the calling
party and the called party must have terminals with Internet
access. To be able to make a call through an IP network, both
terminals must be connected to the Internet. Connections between
the terminals and the Internet are commonly established through the
telephone network at the local call rate. The actual long distance
between the calling party and the called party, which is very
expensive in the case of a conventional voice call over the
telephone network, is covered via the IP network, in which rates
are generally very low.
There are various methods for carrying out VoIP. An essential
difference between the methods lies in the type of terminals used.
Frequently, use is made of multimedia-capable personal computers
(PCs) on which suitable software for transmitting speech data over
the IP network is installed. This permits telephony from PC to PC
via an IP network. Using suitable compression techniques, the
amount of data to be transmitted over the IP network can be reduced
to about 8 to 12 kb/s. If sufficient bandwidths are available,
speech quality is acceptable and corresponds to that in mobile
radio networks.
In PC-to-PC telephony, however, the circle of users is greatly
limited, since a large number of potential users of Internet
telephony do not have a PC or a suitably equipped PC. Therefore,
Internet telephony solutions are being offered in which an
interface from a conventional telephone network to an IP network is
implemented using a so-called gateway. This permits VoIP between a
PC and a conventional telephone (analog or ISDN) or even between
two telephones.
In Internet telephony via gateways, the calling party dials the
number of a first gateway, which is located as close to the caller
as possible. The connection to the gateway is established through
the conventional telephone network. Next, the calling party dials
the number of the desired party. The first gateway then establishes
an IP connection through an IP network to a second gateway, which
is closest to the called party. From the second gateway, a
conventional telephone connection is then established to the called
party.
In the prior art, providers of Internet telephony must maintain a
gateway in as many local networks as possible so as to enable users
of Internet telephony to access the IP networks nationwide at the
lowest possible rate (the local rate). However, the installation
and maintenance of the gateways is very expensive and nullifies
most of the cost advantages offered by Internet telephony. This is
one of the main reasons why Internet telephony has not yet become
accepted.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve a
method of the above kind so that a voice call can be established
between the terminal of a calling party and the terminal of a
called party over a data network, particularly over an Internet
Protocol (IP) network. Another object of the present invention is
to provide a method of the above kind whereby the inactive terminal
can be activated in a simple manner. To attain these objects, the
invention, starting from the method of activating an inactive
terminal of the above kind, provides a method which is
characterized by the following steps: establishing a connection to
a server of the data network and transmitting an identifier of the
terminal to be activated to the server of the data network;
receiving the identifier at the server of the data network;
interpreting the identifier at the server of the data network to
determine the number of the terminal to be activated; making a call
from the server of the data network through the telephone network
to the terminal to be activated; signaling the identity of the
server of the data network; receiving the call and interpreting the
signaling at the terminal to be activated; terminating the call to
the terminal by the server of the data network; and establishing a
connection from the terminal to be activated to the data network if
the signaling indicates that the call came from a server of the
data network.
The present invention assumes that a terminal connected to a
telephone network is to be activated.
The terminal can establish a connection to a data network through
the telephone network. The data network is preferably a
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) network,
the so-called Internet or a so-called intranet. The terminal cannot
be addressed and activated directly from the data network.
According to the invention, therefore, a method of indirectly
activating the terminal in a simple manner and at low cost is
proposed.
First, a connection is established from a terminal referred to
herein as a further terminal to the data network via an access node
of a data network provider (e.g., an Internet Service Provider), a
so-called point of presence (POP). For telephone communication over
the data network (e.g., Internet telephony), the further terminal
wants to establish a call to the terminal to be activated. The
server of the data network is designed as a Voice-over-IP server
(VoIP server), for example. The VoIP server is contained in the
data network and is also connected to the telephone network. It is
a server that can establish telephone calls over the telephone
network and transmit data over a data connection. This VoIP server
receives from the further terminal over the data network or via
another server an identifier of the terminal to be activated.
The identifier is received and interpreted by the VoIP server of
the data network. The interpretation of the identifier includes
determining the number of the terminal to be activated. To
accomplish this, the VoIP server has access to a database, for
example, in which at least the identifiers and numbers of a
plurality of terminals are stored. It is also conceivable, however,
that as the identifier, the number of the terminal to be activated
is transmitted. In that case, the interpretation of the identifier
and the determination of the number of the terminal to be activated
are limited to the transfer of the received number.
Next, the VoIP server of the data network transmits a call over the
telephone network to the terminal to be activated, thus signaling
to the terminal its own identity. The identity of the server is,
for example, its number, which is transmitted automatically in
modern telephone networks. The signaling information is transmitted
in the D channel in the case of an ISDN telephone and as calling
line identification presentation (CLIP) information in the case of
an analog telephone. The terminal to be activated receives the call
and interprets the signaling information or the number of the
caller. If the number of a VoIP server is recognized, the call will
not be accepted. To recognize the number of a VoIP server, the
calling number transmitted with the call is compared with a list of
numbers of known VoIP servers stored in the terminal to be
activated.
Next, the VoIP server terminates the call to the terminal to be
activated, without a chargeable telephone call being established
from the server to the terminal to be activated. For this reason,
the call from the VoIP server to the terminal to be activated can
also be made over a long distance without any telephone charge
having to be paid. It is not necessary that a VoIP server should be
available in every local network, as is the case in the prior art.
In the method according to the invention, the number of servers
required is determined by the usage of the individual VoIP servers.
The servers may be positioned in arbitrary locations and must only
be connected to the data network and the telephone network.
Next, the terminal to be activated establishes a connection to the
data network via a further POP if the signaling information or the
received number indicates that the caller was a VoIP server of the
data network. To do this, the terminal to be activated dials the
number of a further, nearby POP server of the data network over the
telephone network and establishes a connection to this POP server.
The POP server can then establish, for example, a connection
through the data network to the VoIP server from which the
activation of the terminal originated.
The VoIP server now has a data network connection, e.g., an IP
connection, to both terminals. It determines the IP addresses of
the two terminals and notifies each terminal of the IP address of
the respective other terminal. The two terminals terminate the IP
call to the VoIP server and establish a direct connection between
them.
The servers of the data network of the method according to the
invention have two main functions. On the one hand, dialing into
the data network from a terminal over the telephone network is made
possible (POP server). On the other hand, the call to the terminal
to be activated can be made over the telephone network, and by
transmitting the signaling information or the number of the server,
an incoming VoIP call can be signaled (VoIP server) to the terminal
over the telephone network. It is conceivable that the two main
functions of the servers could be performed on two different
servers. One of the servers would be a conventional POP server of a
data network that performs the first function. The other server
would be a novel VoIP server that performs the second function. The
two servers could communicate with each other over the data
network. It is also possible to implement both main functions with
a single server. In a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the establishment of the connection to the server of the
data network and the transmission of the identifier of the terminal
to be activated to the server of the data network are effected by
the further terminal. To accomplish this, the further terminal
establishes a connection to the VoIP server of the data network via
a POP server. The terminal to be activated can then establish a
connection to the VoIP server of the data network via the POP
server. Both terminals receive the IP address of the respective
other terminal from the VoIP server over the data network, and
establish a direct connection between them through the telephone
network, the data network, and the POP servers involved.
If the data network provider has dial-in servers (POP servers) in
the local networks of the further terminal and of the terminal to
be activated, only the local rate will have to be paid for the call
for dialing from the two terminals into the data network via the
servers. As a rule, the call through the data network is free of
charge or much lower in cost than a corresponding call through the
telephone network.
In the Internet, the dial-in servers (POP servers) are made
available and operated by so-called Internet Service Providers. In
each local network, access is generally provided to one or more POP
servers. According to the present invention, the connection from
the terminal to the VoIP server and to the respective other
terminal can be established via POP servers of arbitrary Internet
Service Providers. Thus, the calls from the terminals over the
telephone network to the POP server can, as a rule, be made at the
local call rate or at a special Internet rate of a data network
provider without the provider of an Internet telephony service
(VoIP service) himself having to run a POP server.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
terminal to be activated establishes a connection to a server of
the data network and transmits its identifier to the server or the
identifier is determined by the server; the data network addresses
of the two terminals are transmitted by the server of the data
network to the respective other terminal, or are retrieved by the
terminals from the VoIP server; and a connection is established by
the terminals through the telephone network and the data
network.
The data network is advantageously designed as an Internet Protocol
(IP) network. Such a data network is also referred to as an
intranet or the Internet.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
further terminal is a calling party's terminal connected to a
telephone network, and the terminal to be activated is a called
party's terminal connected to the telephone network, the called
party's terminal being activated to set up a voice call between the
calling party's terminal and the called party's terminal through
the IP network.
For the establishment of a voice call between the calling party's
terminal and the called party's terminal, in yet another preferred
embodiment of the present invention, a method is proposed which is
characterized by the following steps: The calling party dials at
his or her terminal the number of the called party's terminal; a
first Voice-over-IP (VoIP) adapter unit, connected between the
calling party's terminal and the telephone network, receives the
dialed number; the first VoIP adapter unit establishes a connection
through the telephone network to a POP server and through the
latter to the data network; the first VoIP adapter unit transmits
the called-party number and its own IP address over the IP network
to a VoIP server of the data network; the VoIP server receives the
called-party number and the IP address of the first VoIP adapter
unit; the VoIP server dials up the called party's terminal through
the telephone network; over the telephone network, the number of
the VoIP server is signaled to the called party's terminal; a
second VoIP adapter unit, connected between the called party's
terminal and the telephone network, receives the number of the VoIP
server; the second VoIP adapter unit compares the number with the
numbers of known VoIP servers; the second VoIP adapter unit
identifies the VoIP server and prevents the incoming call from
being transferred to the called party's terminal; the second VoIP
adapter unit establishes a connection to a POP server through the
telephone network; the second VoIP adapter unit transmits its IP
address to the VoIP server over the IP network; the VoIP server
transmits the IP address of the first VoIP adapter unit and the IP
address of the second VoIP adapter unit to the respective other
VoIP adapter unit; an IP connection is established from the first
VoIP adapter unit to the second VoIP adapter unit; the second VoIP
adapter unit causes a call to be sent to the called party's
terminal; and a voice call is established between the calling
party's terminal and the called party's terminal if the called
party accepts the call.
In this embodiment of the present invention, the two main functions
of the servers of the data network are divided between two servers.
The POP server performs the function of a conventional access
server of a data network, the dialing from a terminal into the data
network over the telephone network. Through the VoIP server, the
call to the terminal to be activated and the signaling information
can be transmitted over the telephone network. The POP server and
the VoIP server are interconnected through the data network (in the
present case through the IP network).
Alternatively, it is proposed to combine the VoIP server and the
POP server in a common POP/VoIP server.
Another object of the present invention to improve a server of a
data network so as to permit a simple activation of an inactive
terminal of a data network.
To attain this object, the invention provides a server of a data
network which is characterized by means for receiving from a
terminal an identifier of a terminal to be activated, which is
connected to a telephone network; means for making a call over the
telephone network to the terminal to be activated; and means for
terminating the call to the terminal to be activated.
Through a server of such a design, the call to the terminal to be
activated can be made over the telephone network. Present-day
telephone networks transmit the number of the server to the
terminal to be activated. The terminal to be activated compares the
received number with the numbers of known servers of the data
network. If it is found that an incoming call comes from a server
of the data network, the call will not be accepted. This makes it
possible to activate a particular inactive terminal of a data
network in a simple manner without the service provider or the user
of the terminal incurring any telephone charges by the
activation.
In still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
server is designed as an access server (POP server) of an IP
network.
Advantageously, the server comprises means for interpreting the
identifier and determining the number of the terminal to be
activated.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the server comprises means for
accepting a call over a telephone network from a terminal connected
to the telephone network, and means for establishing a connection
from the terminal to the data network. This makes it possible to
use the server according to the invention for establishing a call
between the terminal of a calling party and the terminal of a
called party through a data network, particularly through an
Internet Protocol (IP) network.
Yet another object of the present invention is to improve an
adapter unit of the above kind so that any inactive terminal of a
data network, particularly a telephone, can be activated in a
simple manner.
To attain this object, the invention, starting from an adapter unit
of the above kind, provides an adapter unit which is characterized
by means for establishing a connection from the terminal to a
server (e.g., a POP server) of a data network through the telephone
network; means for receiving the call of a server (e.g., a VoIP
server) of the data network; means for interpreting the number of a
caller; means for comparing the number with the numbers of known
servers (e.g., VoIP servers) of the data network; means for
retrieving and/or receiving a data network address of a further
adapter unit of the caller from the server (e.g., VoIP server) of
the data network; and means for establishing a data call to the
further adapter unit through the data network.
According to an advantageous aspect of the present invention, the
adapter unit comprises means for transmitting the identifier of a
terminal to be activated or the identification of a called party to
the server of the data network. The identifier or identification
transmitted is, for example, the number of the terminal to be
activated. In this way, the unit according to the invention can be
used to activate any terminal.
A terminal initiates the activation of any inactive terminal in the
manner described above. In a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the adapter unit comprises means for transmitting the
identifier of the terminal to which it is connected to the server
of the data network. This makes it possible to establish a
connection from the activated terminal through the adapter unit to
the sever of the data network and to transmit the identifier of the
activated terminal to the server. The server will then establish a
connection between the terminal that initiated the activation and
the activated terminal through the data network.
Advantageously, the adapter unit is implemented as a microcomputer
with a processor, a memory, an interface to the telephone network,
and an interface to an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The memory
of the adapter unit holds, for example, the identities,
particularly the IP addresses, of particular servers of the data
network. When a call is received by the adapter unit, and signaling
information with the identity of the caller is transmitted, the
unit can compare the identity of the caller with the stored
identities of the servers of the data network to determine whether
the caller is a server of the data network. The adapter unit acts
toward the data network like a computer with a modem or an ISDN
adapter, and towards the terminal like a conventional telephone
line socket.
According to the present invention, the adapter unit may be
designed as a separate device that is connected between the
terminal and the telephone network, preferably between the terminal
and the telephone line socket. It is also conceivable that the
adapter unit could form part of a terminal. For this purpose, on
the one hand, a telephone is proposed which incorporates an adapter
unit as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 14. On the other hand, a
computer with a modulator-demodulator (modem) or with an ISDN
adapter is proposed, the modem or the ISDN adapter incorporating an
adapter unit as claimed in any one of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be
explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows apparatus for carrying out the method of establishing
a call between a calling party's terminal and a called party's
terminal in accordance with the invention; and
FIGS. 2A and 2B are a flowchart for the method in accordance with
the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In FIG. 1, a data network designed as an Internet Protocol (IP)
network, particularly the Internet, is generally referenced by the
numeral 1. Data network 1 includes point-of-presence (POP) servers
2, 3, i.e., access nodes of a data network provider. The
connections between servers 2, 3 in data network 1 are represented
by heavy lines. Servers 2, 3 are connected with terminals 5, 6
through a telephone network 4, the terminals being conventional
telephones. The function of servers 2, 3 is to permit dialing from
terminals 5, 6 into data network 1 through telephone network 4.
Terminals 5, 6 are connected to telephone network 4 through
conventional telephone line sockets 7, 8. Connected between
terminals 5, 6 and telephone line sockets 7, 8 are adapter units 9,
10, which are either designed as separate units or incorporated in
terminals 5, 6. Their construction and operation are described
below.
Data network 1 is a long-distance network, particularly a worldwide
network, which is indicated in FIG. 1 by the interruptions of the
connections of data network 1. Data network 1 further includes a
Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) server 11, which is connected
to servers 2, 3 and to telephone network 4. The construction and
operation of server 11 are described below.
A subject matter of the present invention is the below-described
method of establishing a call between the terminal 5 of a calling
party and the terminal 6 of a called party through the data network
1. Further subject matters of the present invention are the adapter
units 9, 10 and the VoIP server 11.
To describe the method according to the invention, reference will
now be made to FIG. 2. There, the start of the method is
represented by block 20. In block 21, a calling party (not shown)
dials at his or her terminal 5 the identifier, or number, of the
terminal 6 of another party, the called party. In block 22, the
dialed identifier is received by adapter unit 9. Then, in block 23,
adapter unit 9 establishes a connection through telephone network 4
to server 2. Server 2 establishes an IP connection between adapter
unit 9 and data network 1. In block 24, adapter unit 9 establishes
an IP connection to VoIP server 11 through telephone network 4,
server 2, and data network 1. In block 25, adapter unit 9 transmits
its identification, e.g., its IP address, and the called party's
identification to VoIP server 11.
VoIP server 11 receives the identification. If the received
identification is not the number of a called party, it will be
interpreted in block 26 to determine the number of the terminal 6
of the called party. It is conceivable that VoIP server 11 could
have access to a database 12 in which information about subscribers
of telephone network 4 is stored. Then, in block 27, VoIP server 11
makes a call over telephone network 4 to the terminal 6 to be
activated and transmits signaling information to terminal 6. The
signaling information contains the identity, particularly the
number, of server 11. In the case of a digital terminal 6 based on
the ISDN standard, the signaling information is transmitted over
the D channel of telephone network 4; in the case of an analog
terminal 6, it is transmitted as
calling-line-identification-presentation (CLIP) information.
Adapter unit 10 receives the signaling information in block 28 and
interprets it in block 29. From the received identity of the server
11, adapter unit 10 can determine whether the caller is a VoIP
server 11 of data network 1. It is conceivable that a memory of the
adapter unit could contain the identities of all VoIP servers 11 of
the data network. The identities of VoIP servers 11 could be
updated on each call establishment. If adapter unit 10 determines
that the call is not from a VoIP server 11 of data network 1, but a
normal call over telephone network 4, it will switch the incoming
call through to terminal 6 and permit the establishment of a
conventional telephone connection (block 30).
If the call is from VoIP server 11, the latter, after transmitting
the signaling information, will clear the call to terminal 6 in
block 31 without a telephone connection having been established
between VoIP server 11 and terminal 6 through telephone network 4
and without any costs having been incurred by the use of the
telephone network. Then, in block 32, adapter unit 10 establishes a
connection through telephone network 4 to a server 3 located as
close to terminal 6 as possible, preferably in the local network.
Also in block 32, server 3 establishes an IP connection between
adapter unit 10 and data network 1. In block 33, adapter unit 10
transmits its identifier, particularly its IP address, via
telephone network 4, server 3, and data network 1 to VoIP server
11. In block 34, VoIP server 11 transmits the identifiers of the
caller's adapter unit 9 and the called party's adapter unit 10 to
the other adapter units 10 and 9, respectively. Then, in block 35,
a voice call is established by adapter units 9, 10 from the calling
party's terminal 5 to the called party's terminal 6 through data
network 1, so that the calling party and the called party can
communicate with one another.
As soon as one of the two, the calling party or the called party,
signals, for example by pressing a key, that he or she wants to
terminate a call, the connection is released by a connected adapter
unit 9; 10 in block 36. In block 37, the process is complete.
The connections from terminals 5, 6 to servers 2, 3 of the data
network are established through telephone network 4, preferably at
the local rate. The long distance between the calling party and the
called party, which is very expensive in the case of a conventional
voice call over the telephone network, is covered in the method
according to the invention via the generally low-charge data
network 1. The provider of the telephone service over data network
1 need not maintain a server 11 in every local network to enable
the calling party or the called party to access data network 1 at
the lowest possible cost. The method according to the invention
takes advantage of the infrastructure of a provider (access
provider) of data network 1. Since data networks 1, particularly
the Internet, enjoy great popularity, there are relatively many
providers of access to data networks 1. Thus, access to data
network 1 is possible from nearly all local networks at the local
rate.
The interpretation of the identifier of the called party's terminal
6 in block 26 may comprise a check as to whether the called party
is a customer of the provider of telephony over data network 1
(e.g., of Internet telephony) at all, and as to whether he or she
has an adapter unit 10. It is conceivable that the information
about subscribers of telephone network 4 stored in database 12
could include information as to whether the subscribers are
customers of the Internet telephony service provider. If the called
party is not a customer of the service provider, no call can be
established to him or her through data network 1. VoIP server 11
will communicate this to adapter unit 9. Adapter unit 9 will then
initiate the establishment of a conventional voice call through
telephone network 4 to the called party's terminal 6.
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